Election probe documents leaked to media

The investigative report documents of the Prosecutor`s Office concerning the investigations of those accused of electioneering during the general election has been leaked to the public.

The Public Security Department of the Supreme Public Prosecutor`s Office has revealed that it was looking into the publication of the excerpts from the classified investigative reports of the 116 representatives of the 16th general assembly on the Wednesday issue of an unspecified vernacular newspaper, and how the documents were leaked.

The report documents contain the list of the representatives under investigation (56 from the opposition Grand National Party, 53 from the ruling Millennium Democratic Party and seven from the Liberal Democratic Party), their alleged crime, the investigative process and recommendations for the cases.

If the in-house investigation by the Prosecutor`s Office reveals a path through the current administration in power, many expect it will rock the nation, as it would support the statement made by ruling MDP`s former vice secretary, Yoon Chul-Sang.

"By pressuring the Prosecutor`s Office, 10 of the indicted MDP`s representatives escaped investigation," Yoon charged.

"The examination of the content and method of the published document clearly points to the fact that it was written by the prosecutors in order to keep track of the cases," a source at the Prosecutor`s Office confirmed. "This is a document that was not even made available to lower-echelon prosecutors but was kept classified at the Public Safety Department."

The Prosecutor`s Office suspects that a third external person might be involved and is currently interrogating all who were involved in the electioneering investigation.

Yang Ki-Dae kee@donga.com